Ferrari S.p.A. is an Italian sports car manufacturer based in Maranello and Modena, Italy. Founded by Enzo Ferrari in 1929 as Scuderia Ferrari, the company sponsored drivers and manufactured race cars before moving into production of street legal vehicles in 1947 as Ferrari S.p.A. Throughout its history, the company has been noted for its continued participation in racing, especially in Formula One, where it has largely enjoyed great success, especially during the 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, late 1990s, and 2000s.
After years of financial struggles, Enzo Ferrari sold the company's sports car division to the Fiat group in 1969 to ensure continued financial backing. Enzo Ferrari retained control of the racing division until his death in 1988 at the age of 90. Earlier that year he had overseen the launch of the Ferrari F40; the last new Ferrari to be launched before his death.
Ferrari also has an internally managed merchandising line that licenses many products bearing the Ferrari brand, including eyewear, pens, pencils, perfume, clothing, high-tech bicycles, cell phones, and even laptop computers. Financial Times named Ferrari number one on its 2007 list of the 100 Best Workplaces in Europe.
The first Ferrari road car was the 1947 125 S, powered by a 1.5 L V12 engine; Enzo reluctantly built and sold his automobiles to fund the Scuderia. While his beautiful and fast cars quickly gained a reputation for excellence, Enzo maintained a famous distaste for his customers, most of whom he felt were buying his cars for the prestige and not the performance. Ferrari road cars, noted for styling by design houses like Pininfarina, have long been one of the ultimate accessories for the wealthy. Other design houses that have done work for Ferrari over the years include Scaglietti, Bertone, Touring, Ghia, and Vignale.
In 2005, four universities were granted the opportunity to design the next vehicle line-up for Ferrari in a student competition named 'Ferrari Concepts of the Myth'. Twenty winners were allowed to show off their concepts in a ¼ scale model and present their work to the board at Ferrari to allow for three winners to have the chance to work in the Ferrari design studio at Maranello.
As of 2007, the Fiat Group owns 85% of Ferrari, Mubadala 5%, and Enzo's son Piero 10%. Fiat has shelved plans for an IPO because Fiat Auto has now returned to profitability, thus removing pressure from the group.
In late 2007, construction began on the theme park Ferrari World in the United Arab Emirates, the first theme park based on and utilizing the Ferrari brand.
Cavallino Rampante
The famous symbol of the Ferrari race team is a black prancing stallion on a yellow shield, usually with the letters S F (for Scuderia Ferrari), with three stripes of green, white and red (the Italian national colors) at the top. The road cars have a rectangular badge on the hood (see picture above) and this race logo on the side.
On June 17, 1923, Enzo Ferrari won a race at the Savio track in Ravenna where he met the Countess Paolina, mother of Count Francesco Baracca, an ace of the Italian air force and national hero of World War I, who used to paint a horse on the side of his planes. The Countess asked Enzo to use this horse on his cars, suggesting that it would bring him good luck. The original "prancing horse" on Baracca's airplane was painted in red on a white cloud-like shape, but Ferrari chose to have the horse in black (as it had been painted as a sign of grief on Baracca's squadron planes after the pilot was killed in action) and he added a canary yellow background as this is the color of the city of Modena, his birthplace. The Ferrari horse was, from the very beginning, markedly different from the Baracca horse in most details, the most noticeable being the tail that in the original Baracca version was pointing downward.
Ferrari has used the cavallino rampante on official company stationery since 1929. Since the Spa 24 Hours race of July 9, 1932, the cavallino rampante has been used on Alfa Romeos raced by Scuderia Ferrari.
A similar black horse on a yellow shield is the Coat of Arms of the German city of Stuttgart. This horse motif comes from the origins of the city's name: it comes from Stutengarten, an ancient form of the modern German word Gestüt, which translates into English as stud farm and into Italian as scuderia. Stuttgart is the home of Porsche, which also uses the Stuttgart sign in its corporate logo, centred in the emblem of the state of Württemberg.
Fabio Taglioni used the cavallino rampante on his Ducati motorbikes, as Taglioni was born at Lugo di Romagna like Baracca, and his father too was a military pilot during WWI (even if not part of Baracca's squadron, as is mistakenly reported). As Ferrari's fame grew, Ducati abandoned the horse- perhaps the result of a private agreement between the two companies.
The cavallino rampante is now a trademark of Ferrari. However, other companies use similar logos: Avanti, an Austrian company operating over 100 filling stations, uses a prancing horse logo which is nearly identical to Ferrari's.
Many aspects of the cover design of the third Jamiroquai album, Travelling Without Moving, as well as the single Virtual Insanity and some single promos pay homage to the Ferrari logo.
599 GTB Fiorano
The Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano (internal code F139) is Ferrari's 2-seat Gran Turismo flagship model, replacing the 575 M Maranello in 2006 as a 2007 model. The 599 GTB debuted at the Geneva Motor Show on February 28, 2006. Styling of the 599 GTB was handled by Pininfarina, under the direction of Ferrari stylist, Frank Stephenson. It is named for its total engine displacement (5999 cc), Gran Turismo Berlinetta nature, and the Fiorano Circuit test track used by Ferrari.
The 599's Enzo-sourced Tipo F133F 6.0 L (5999 cc) V12 engine produces a maximum 620 CV (620 hp/456 kW/611 bhp), making it the most-powerful series production Ferrari road car. Its 448 ft·lbf (608 N·m) of torque will also be a high for Ferrari's GT cars. Most of the modifications to the engine were done to allow it to fit in the Fiorano's engine bay (the original Enzo version could be taller since the mid-mounted position allowed it to be so). The company claims a top speed in excess of 330 km/h (205 mph), 3.7 second sprint to 100 km/h (62 mph), and 11.0 to 200 km/h (124 mph).
F430
The Ferrari F430 is a high-performance sports car produced by the Italian automaker Ferrari to succeed the 360. It debuted at the 2004 Paris Motor Show. European left-hand drive sales began in November 2004, but right-hand drive sales did not start until Spring 2005, and the United States did not get the F430 until Summer 2005.
The F430's chassis is heavily based on its predecessor, the 360. Internally, both cars are referred to with the same model number (F131), though the F430 has the Evoluzione tag attached to show that it features some major changes. Internally, the car is simply known as the "Evo".
The MSRP for a Ferrari F430 is between $168,005 - $227,000 in the United States. The F430 is sold starting at about £120,000 in the United Kingdom, approximately €175,000 in the European Union and $389,000 for the base model to $450,000 for the Spider F1 Sequential in Australia.
Car and Driver magazine found the car's performance worthy of the Ferrari heritage, and recorded a 3.5 sec 0-60 mph acceleration run in the F430 This makes it the third-quickest Ferrari road car ever made, after the Enzo and the 599 GTB. That being said, the 3.5 second 0-60 run was made on a European spec car, which has launch control, a feature designed to help launch the car from a standing start at high RPMs. Much like the E-Diff and the manettino, the launch control is a technology borrowed from Ferrari's Formula 1 racing program. The launch control is unavailable in U.S.-spec F430s, presumably due to liability issues.
On the BBC Top Gear TV show, shown on the 17 July 2005, The Stig achieved a Power Lap time of 1:22.9. While the laptime was 0.9 seconds less than a Lamborghini Murciélago, the F430 was slower than the 360 Challenge Stradale at 1:22.3. The slower lap was blamed on the F430's Bridgestone tires supposedly having less grip than the Challenge Stradale's Pirellis.
Top Gear's Jeremy Clarkson has commented on the F430's handling being absolutely brilliant, a marked improvement over the 360; he claimed that Ferrari holds that "even the most butter-fingered, incapable driver could drive the F430 around their test track only one second slower than the most skilled test driver". He has in fact proclaimed, on more than one occasion, that the Ferrari F430 is "just about the best car I've ever driven", a status he previously attributed to the F355 (but never the 360).
The car develops about 300 kgf (2.9 kN) of downforce at top speed (without rear wing).
FXX
The Ferrari FXX is a car developed as part of an unusual development program by automobile manufacturer Ferrari in Maranello, Italy. Production of the FXX began in 2005.
The car uses some technology developed from the Enzo and combines it with some all-new developments from Ferrari and some of the suppliers. However, the car is only a part of the overall program: customers pay £1.3 million ($2.5 million USD) but are only allowed to drive the car on special track days approved by Ferrari and after they drive the car they have to brief Ferrari on the car's performance. Michael Schumacher was given the last one (number 30) when he retired from Formula One racing at the end of 2006. Ferrari's sister company, Maserati, has developed a similar car, the MC12 Corsa.
This car was built with the same idea in mind as when Ferrari made its F50 GT.
Essentially an evolution of the Enzo, the FXX shares some components with its parent car, but significant portions are exclusive to the FXX.
The FXX's engine is based on the Enzo's but has been expanded to 6.3 L (6262 cc) from 6 L (5988 cc), and output has been boosted from 660 PS (651 hp/485.4 kW), as seen in the Enzo, to 812 PS (800.9 hp/597.2 kW) at 8,500 rpm.
The gearbox incorporates the latest developments from Ferrari's F1 program and has a shift time under 100 ms. The brake pads are upgraded compared to those on the Enzo. It does, however, retain the ceramic discs found on the Enzo.
The tires on the FXX are 19 inch slicks custom-developed for the car, though road-legal.
As with the Enzo, the seat and pedal configuration are custom fit to the user's exact measurements.
The FXX features a comprehensive data-monitoring and telemetry that not only allows the driver to improve performance, but also provides Ferrari technicians with valuable data to improve the FXX and future road-going Ferraris.
Ferrari has built 30 (original number 29) of these cars, and they have all been sold to preselected past Ferrari customers, except for one that Ferrari S.p.A. kept, including Ferrari's F1 World Champion driver, Michael Schumacher, the 30th. Schumacher's FXX differs from others in that it is the only black FXX without a stripe and comes with red trim on the wheels, matte exhaust tips (regular FXX's have chrome tips),it has also holds the famous MS signature on the side in red, number 30 on the doors and his personal insignia on the seats. These few customers will not only own a Ferrari FXX, but also participate in further testing and brand development. As the vehicle is not street-legal, owners have the option of storing the car at Ferrari's facilities. As part of the FXX program, the car is maintained by the Ferrari factory. The purpose of this particular program is to allow Ferrari's top customers exclusive access to its most up-to-date technology and to use their input to help develop future models. The FXX was reported to cost 1.5 million euro (excluding taxes),[1] for the car and the services that Ferrari provides with it.
612 Scaglietti
The Ferrari 612 Scaglietti (skal-yeti) is a Gran Turismo car produced by Ferrari since 2004. It is a large two door fastback coupe with a 2+2 seating arrangement. The 612 Scaglietti was designed to replace the smaller 456 M; its larger size makes it a true 4 seater with adequate space in the rear seats for adults.
It is produced at Ferrari's Carrozzeria Scaglietti plant, the former home of the car's namesake coachbuilder in Modena, Italy. The design, especially the large side scallops and the headlights, pays homage to the custom 1954 Ferrari 375 MM that director Roberto Rossellini had commissioned for his wife, Ingrid Bergman.
'Car life' 카테고리의 다른 글
Volvo XC60 - launched (0) | 2008.03.27 |
---|---|
toyota - iQ market-ready design (0) | 2008.03.22 |
SUBARU line up (0) | 2008.03.06 |
Jaguar XF (0) | 2008.03.06 |
RENAULT line up (0) | 2008.03.01 |